We all know those photographs from the golden age of the ocean liner – giant black hulls with sharp, white superstructures towering above. Ever wondered
Maritime History
The Aral Sea and Its Fleets
Split between the most abandoned corners of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, lies a forlorn desert, one saltier than the ocean. Not a single path runs through
The SS Île de France – A Floating Monument of the Arts Décoratifs
By the late 1920s, the charm of the legendary pre-Great War ocean liners was already fading. Yes, Cunard’s Mauretania, Aquitania and Berengaria were as dependable as ever, and White
Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his Ships
The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the 18th century and was a time of reason and enlightenment, of ingenuity and progress, of whistling steam-powered
The SS Imperator: A Grand Hotel on the Ocean
A new ocean liner joined the Hamburg-America Line on 23 May 1912: the mighty SS Imperator. First interesting fact: she was a he. By order of Kaiser Wilhelm
Rotterdam: How a Harbor Strike Created the Largest Chinatown in Europe
It is a chilly spring day in 2019. Looking at the quiet streets of Rotterdam’s neighborhood of Katendrecht and the spruced-up buildings that line them,
13 Maritime Disasters More Tragic Than the Titanic
For most of us, when we think of maritime disasters, the first image that comes to mind is the colossal hull of the RMS Titanic, sinking
The SS Normandie – A True Monarch of the Seas
Names, such as White Star’s Olympic and Cunard’s Mauretania were the stuff of legends in their heyday, but when the roaring 20’s were uttering their final roars, times called
A Long History of Shipyards – The Great Industrial Revolutions Before the Industrial Revolution
Since the name of my blog is The Shipyard, I thought it only appropriate for my first post to dwell a bit on the topic of